The invention relates generally to the synthesis of salts of organic acids and, more specifically, to the solid phase synthesis of salts of organic acids, including butyric acid, in a dust-free form and particularly suited for use as animal feed additives.
Salts of organic acids are widely used in the animal feed industry as preservatives of the animal feed and as sources of acids in animal feed rations. The salts disassociate in the digestive tract of the animal and provide a number of advantageous effects, including the maintenance of a healthy gastric environment and a beneficial microbial balance. Monogastric animals, such as swine and poultry, must keep a low gastric pH to maintain a healthy gut. Low gastric pH is one of the major factors governing the performance of monogastric animals and the economics of livestock production. The pH of the gut may rise when the animals are young or under stress. The addition of salts of organic acids to the animal feed ration helps to maintain a low gastric pH and to improve the health of the animal.
Salts of butyric acid will have an acidifying effect, but because of its distinct alkyl chain, it will have a different activity and selectivity when compared to salts of other fatty acids, such as formic, acetic, and propionic acid. Salts of butyric acid also have an important function on the intestinal morphology of the gut. The addition of butyrates leads to an increased surface area of the gut wall due to an increase in size of the villi. The increased surface area aids the absorption of nutrients and promotes animal growth.
A satisfactory animal feed acidifier product must function as an acidifier, blend with the animal feed ration, be acceptable to the animal, and not grossly alter the physical characteristics of the animal feed. Problems have occurred in the production of animal feed acidifiers in the form of clumping of the acidifier during manufacture, requiring an additional processing step to comminute the acidifier to a size where it can be blended with the animal feed ration, be acceptable to the animal, and provide a bioavailable source of the organic acid upon ingestion. Comminution of clumps can result in the production of fines, i.e., finely divided particles that create dustiness, resulting in a loss of product during mixing into the animal feed ration and an unpleasant environment for persons conducting the mixing. Other methods of producing these products have required an additional energy-consuming step to remove excess water, such as distillation or spray drying. There is needed a method of producing salts of organic acids that results in a feed acidifier that has a small particle size without the presence of fines, which does not clump during formation and which does not require additional drying.
Animal feed acidifiers are commonly added to animal rations that also include mineral premixes. Many of the mineral premixes include either or both amino acids and copper sulfate. These ingredients react with the volatile acids of the animal feed acidifier to form clumps. There is a need for a method of producing salts of organic acids that does not cause clumping when combined with mineral premixes including either amino acids or copper sulfate. In addition, the lack of volatile acids in the animal feed acidifier of the present invention means it will not react with the butyrates.